55 Yard Line

The CFL has continued to prove its "No Lead Is Safe" tagline recently, particularly with the B.C. Lions giving up a 21-0 leadto lose 30-27 to the Toronto Argonauts last week, and the Montreal Alouettes and Calgary Stampeders continued that trend Saturday, with Calgary overcoming a 17-0 deficit at the end of the first quarter to eventually triumph 25-22. The Stampeders struggled in all three aspects of the game early, but rebounded in each area, which was a big part of why they came out with the win. That improves their record to 4-2 and keeps them near the top of the West (Edmonton is 4-1), and suggests that they're overcoming some of their early-season struggles and looking more like the defending Grey Cup champions they are.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders' problems through five weeks were bad enough, but their situation looks much worse still following a 30-5 thumping by the Edmonton EskimosFriday. Without Kevin Glenn thanks to injury, they were forced to rely on CFL rookie Brett Smith, and although he showed some potential in the first half, Edmonton's defence was able to take advantage of him in the second half. The Riders' defence struggled through their first five weeks, and it didn't look much better this week, but the once-impressive offence also fell off the map Friday, leading to an all-around dismal game. The loss dropped Saskatchewan to 0-6 for the first time since 1979, and unless the Roughriders show drastic improvement soon, they may keep adding to that loss total.

Amidst all the drama about the apparent IFAF split andwhat that means for Canada, it would be easy to overlook how Football Canadadidn't even send a team to this month's senior world championships. That's an interesting story in its own right, though, especially as Canada took silver at the last edition of the tournament,in Austria in 2011. I was able to address why it happened and what the plans are for future competition at the senior level in an interview with Football Canada executive director Shannon Donovan Friday. Donovan said the biggest issue in putting a team together was the timing, as the event's held during the CFL season and also when many CIS players have their own season preparation going on. Players were also tied up with CFL training camps and tryouts during the period they would have needed to come together for this team.

Both the B.C. Lions and Winnipeg Blue Bombers came into Thursday's game off embarrassing losses, with the Lions giving up a 21-0 lead in a 30-27 home loss to Toronto last week and the Bombers only scoring three points in a 32-3 road loss to Edmonton. The Bombers managed to turn things around this time, though, coming up with a 23-13 win over the Lionsthanks largely to their defence stepping up at key moments. This is a good win for Winnipeg, although some flaws were still on display, but it's also a bad loss for a B.C. team that appears to be trending down.

It's a long way from North Carolina to Montreal and from the NCAA to the CFL, but that's the transition Anthony Boone is making. On Tuesday, the Alouettes announced that they'd signed Boone, who wrapped up his NCAA career with the Duke Blue Devils last fall and left with 19 victories, making himthe winningest quarterback in school history. Boone then went to the NFL combine, and although he wasn't drafted, he signed a free-agent contractwith the Detroit Lions afterwards. The Lions cut him in June, though, paving the way for the Alouettes to pick him up. Some college stars wouldn't have been thrilled about heading to the CFL so soon, but in a phone interview Wednesday, Boone said he was excited to get another chance to prove himself as a pro.

Much of the province of Saskatchewan is in an uproar this week, as the Roughriders' 31-21 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Sunday dropped them to 0-5 for the first time in 20 years. Many see them as a team in crisis, and there have even been suggestions that the jobs of head coach Corey Chamblin and general manager Brendan Tamanmight be threatened. However, the team's leading the league in 17 of 30 offensive categories the CFL tracks weekly, including points, yards of offence per game, first downs, rushing yards per game, passing yards per game, gain per pass and gain per rush. So, just how bad are things for this team, and what should be done to fix it?